Extracts. White House, Congress Battle over China's Trade Status The United States is on the verge of yet another high-stakes standoff involving China. But this time, the Bush administration and China are on the same side. At issue now is not the fate of a downed aircraft, but more than $100 billion a year in commerce. President Bush notified Congress on June 1 of his decision to extend normal trading relations with China for another year, saying it would advance "the economic and security interests of the American people." The move re-ignited a battle on Capitol Hill over America's economic ties with China. And in contrast to the delicate diplomatic dance that characterized the recent spy plane standoff, neither side is pulling linguistic punches. "It makes no sense to reward the communist Chinese with an advantageous trade status after their increased belligerence towards the United States," Representative Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, said in a statement. Rohrabacher called China "our worst potential enemy" and promised to introduce a resolution to overturn the yearlong extension when Congress returns from recess next Tuesday. Experts say opponents of free trade with China have been emboldened by the confrontation that sprung from the midair collision between a US Navy EP-3 surveillance plane and a Chinese F-8 fighter jet in April. PNTR REPLAY This year's fight over trade with China will largely be a replay of one fought last year on the House and Senate floors. Then-President Clinton joined with House Republican leaders to push through permanent normal trading relations legislation - a landmark bill that will end Congress' annual review of the nation's trade status after China becomes a member of the World Trade Organization. After a week of contentious debate, the House voted 237-197 to approve PNTR. The Senate vote that followed was a more lopsided 83-15. Most Republicans are sympathetic to business interests that say increasing trade with China makes good economic sense and is sound foreign policy as well. "Fair trade is essential not only to improving living standards for Americans but also for a strong and productive relationship with China," Bush said in his statement on Friday. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman welcomed the announcement, calling normal trading status "a reciprocal trade agreement ... not a favor granted by one country to another." But a vocal minority in Congress vehemently disagrees and will mount an effort to reverse the extension. Only a handful of Republicans oppose normalized relations with China. But they are joined by most House Democrats - political allies of organized labor - who claim lower trade tariffs on Chinese imports costs Americans jobs. Because the PNTR agreement does not take effect until China is admitted into the WTO (it is expected to gain entry as soon as this year), opponents can force a vote on the yearlong extension - as they have every year for more than a decade. US business interests say stemming trade with China would do far more harm than good. "We're talking about the principal underpinning of the relationship of two major powers," added John Howard, director of international policy and programs for the US Chamber of Commerce. "As unfortunate as that incident was, it does not justify our taking such a draconian step." The Bush administration agrees. "American business, agriculture, workers and consumers would suffer if Congress were to disapprove normal trade relations this year," Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote in an editorial appearing in the Washington Post. Even if the House and Senate were to pass what is known as a "resolution of disapproval" against the extension, Bush would likely veto the measure - a move that would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override. Claude Barfield, author of Tiger By the Tail, a 1999 book about China's ongoing efforts to join the WTO, says the anti-free traders are still in the minority. "There will be some people who mouth-off about it, but there doesn't seem to be a groundswell of opposition," he adds. "And there doesn't seem to have been any deterioration ... of support [for free trade with China]." Indeed, a recent ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll found most Americans oppose punishing China. Forty-eight percent said they favored free trade with China, while 45 percent were against it - roughly the same breakdown shown in polls taken before the spy plane standoff. And special interests organizations that bankrolled multimillion-dollar lobbying and public relations campaigns for and against PNTR are not mobilizing for a major fight this time - an indication that neither side believes the outcome of the final vote is much in doubt. **** Niger President Starts China Visit President Mamadou Tandjia of the Republic of Niger arrived Monday for a 12-day working visit to China as guest of Chinese President Jiang Zemin. During his stay in Beijing, the leaders of the two countries will exchange views on bilateral relations and international issues of common concern. Tandjia will also visit the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the provinces of Gansu, Jiangsu and Guangdong. **** President Jiang on Party Building Chinese President Jiang Zemin has said that maintaining close ties between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the masses of the people should be regarded as a major aim and important content of Party building. Jiang, also chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, made the remark during his May 29-June 3 study tour of east China's Jiangxi Province, where he visited factories, villages, schools and research institutes. Jiang said that the key to maintaining close ties with the masses lies in helping the masses resolve practical problems. "The eventual aim of Party building is to maintain continuous flesh-and-blood ties with the masses and make the Party represent the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the people and always have the support of the people," Jiang said. He added that it is necessary to represent the interests of the masses by helping them tackle practical problems in their life and work. The Party has always attached great importance to keeping close ties with the masses, and the mass line has always been the ultimate guarantee for the success of the Party's cause, Jiang added. **** China Has Over 64 Million CPC Members The latest statistics show that the Communist Party of China (CPC) had 64.51 million members by the end of 2000, accounting for 5.2 percent of the country's population. Of them, 11.99 million were women, and some four million came from ethnic-minority groups, making up 17.4 percent and 6.2 percent of the total CPC members, respectively. The statistics, issued by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, also show that more than 14.39 million CPC members, or 22.3 percent of the Party's total, are under the age of 35, and that one-fifth of them were high school graduates. **** Iraq Says Stopping Oil Sales in Protest Against UN Iraq <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/iraq.html> said on Saturday it would halt oil exports from Monday in protest against a United Nations Security Council resolution extending the UN's oil-for-food program for 30 days instead of the usual six months. ``Iraq will halt exports of crude oil from ports on the Arab Gulf and the Mediterranean as of 8:00 a.m. local time (midnight EDT) until further notice," the state Iraqi news agency quoted an official source at the nation's oil ministry as saying. ``Iraq will stop oil exports under the memorandum of understanding because the Council has violated the spirit and the texts of the memorandum," the ministry said. Turkey <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/turkey.html> , one of the two export outlets allowed under oil-for-food, said Iraq had stopped pumping crude via pipeline to the southern Turkish port of Ceyhan. ``The oil flow was suspended from this morning," said a Turkish official. Iraq is angry at Friday's Security Council vote that extended the oil-for-food program for a stop gap period of one month to allow time to consider a proposal by Britain and the United States <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/usa.html> for a revamp of decade-old sanctions against Baghdad. The 30 day-period is intended for more negotiations on the US-British plan that would lift restrictions on civilian goods imported by Iraq while tightening controls on military-related supplies and oil smuggling. Sanctions have been in place since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/kuwait.html> in 1990 and oil-for-food has provided limited relief for civilians since the program began in December 1996. Iraq is worried that a crackdown on oil smuggled through neighboring countries Turkey, Jordan <http://web3.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/jordan.html> and Syria <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/Syria.html> will stem cash generated direct to the government of President Saddam Hussein. Revenues from the humanitarian exchange are kept in a UN escrow account. DOUBTS OVER OPEC'S RESPONSE Saudi Arab <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/sa.html> ia, the world's biggest exporter, pledged it would step in with fellow OPEC members to fill any oil shortage resulting from the Iraqi stoppage. ``What concerns us is the stability of the market. This is not the kingdom's position, but OPEC's position, which is to fill any shortage in the oil market," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters in Riyadh. But it remains unclear whether Naimi and other OPEC oil ministers, who meet in Vienna next week for scheduled talks on production quotas, will move immediately to compensate for the Iraqi outage. ``If the market calls for it we will increase but right now we don't need to raise production tomorrow," Nigeria <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/nigeria.html> 's OPEC representative Rilwanu Lukman told Reuters. ``It depends how long it goes on for and the impact on the market," said Lukman, Nigeria's presidential energy advisor, added. OPEC had widely been expected at its June 5-6 gathering to maintain supplies to keep prices in its $22-$28 a barrel target range for a basket of its crudes. The group cut output by 2.5 million barrels daily earlier this year. The basket was valued at $26.56 on Thursday and ministers may prefer to wait for prices to rise above $28 before triggering extra output under a prearranged agreement. Iraq is an OPEC member but has no production quota. Ministers will be wary about increasing supply too quickly because Baghdad has suspended oil sales in the past and resumed exports within days or weeks. ``Last time it didn't go on very long and OPEC didn't need to do anything," said Lukman. Iraq exports 2.1 million barrels a day, five percent of world exports, under the U.N. program which is due for renewal on June 3. U.S. IS IRAQ'S BIGGEST CUSTOMER The United States is Iraq's biggest customer, buying about a 750,000 bpd, with exports also flowing to Asia, Europe and Latin America. Turkey's Ceyhan terminal has 2.5 million barrels in tanks, a Turkish official said. That's little more than enough for two days worth of normal exports from the port. Iraq controls sales from the other export point at the Gulf port Mina al-Bakr. Baghdad has almost 300 million barrels of oil, equivalent to about 150 days at current export rates, in outstanding contracts under the U.N. program. Previously, Iraq's U.N. envoy had said Iraq would honor those contracts. **** New Zealand to Extend Military Presence in East Timor New Zealand Defense Minister Mark Burton announced here Sunday that his government is offering to maintain battalion-strength presence in East Timor until November 2002. In a press release issued by the New Zealand government, Burton noted that the battalion-strength deployment of the New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) was scheduled to end in late May 2002. But, he continued, it is now clear that a United Nations peacekeeping force will probably be required in East Timor beyond that date. "We have always indicated that New Zealand's presence would be kept under constant review. The pace of developing the East Timor Defense Force, continuing militia activity and the political process surrounding the election and independence are critical determinants," he said. "I asked my defense officials to re-examine the feasibility of extending our battalion-strength presence in east Timor. the Chief of Defense Force has now confirmed that the NZDF could conduct a further rotation, covering the period from May 2002 to November 2002," the defense minister said. **** Islamic Jihad Activist Survives Israeli Attack: Palestinian Sources A local head of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad Sunday morning survived a bombing attack allegedly carried out by Israeli army near the West Bank city of Jenin, Israel Radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying. Abdel Ahmed Muhammad Bisharat, 25, was driving his car in the West Bank village of Tamun near Jenin, some 80 kilometers north of Jerusalem, while a road-side bomb "set up by Israelis" exploded. Bisharat was unhurt in the alleged attack, according to the sources, adding that an Israeli spotter plane was hovering in the area during the operation. A Israeli army spokesman denied commenting on the incident. Since the violence between Israel and the Palestinians broke out late last September, the Palestinians claimed that Israeli army had used missiles and bombs to kill at least 30 Palestinian officials or activists of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced a ceasefire 10 days ago in which the army will refrain from launching initiated operations like assassinations. Over 570 people had been killed in the violence, most of them Palestinians, and thousands wounded. However, after a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up and killed 18 persons, mostly teenage girls, in front of a disco in Tel Aviv Friday night, mounting Israeli public pressure urged Sharon to take retaliation measures. The Islamic Jihad organization initially took the responsibility of the suicide bombing, but later withdrew the announcement. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
